Marvin Magallanes Held in Anaheim Stabbing Murders of 2 Homeless Men

UPDATE, MAY 19, 12:24 P.M.:Marvin Magallanes is scheduled to be arraigned today on two felony counts of murder with special circumstances (multiple murders) and another sentencing enhancement (personal use of a knife) that at a minimum would get him life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, the district attorney’s office announced. Special circumstances murders can also lead to the death penalty if the DA pursues it. The arraignment statement also reveals that Onosai Tavita was fatally stabbed multiple times on Euclid Street in Anaheim. Sabah Alsaad, who like Tavita was homeless, suffered the same fate on South Magnolia Avenue.

ORIGINAL POST, MAY 18, 1:52 P.M.: A 25-year-old Anaheim man has been arrested for allegedly murdering two homeless men, one in January and the other in October, according to police, who fear there may be more victims.

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Marvin Magallanes came to the front counter of the Anaheim Police Department on Friday to confess to the unsolved murder of Sabah Alsaad, a 49-year old homeless man, says Sgt. Daron Wyatt.

Alsaad was found stabbed to death in the 1200 block of South Magnolia Avenue during the early morning hours of Jan. 25.

Anaheim Police Department

But Wyatt says Magallanes has also been linked by forencic evidence to the unsolved murder of Onosai Tavita, a 52-year-old homeless man who was found stabbed to death in the 900 block of South Euclid Street early the morning of Oct. 27, 2016.

Forensic evidence also ties Magallanes to the Alsaad slaying, Wyatt adds. The suspect is being held without bail in Orange County Jail on two counts of special circumstances murder.

Meanwhile, Anaheim Police detectives are in contact with their colleagues in other jurisdictions to determine whether Magallanes has been involved in other unsolved murders, Wyatt says. Anyone with information about the identified or unidentified crimes tied to the suspect can leave anonymous tips with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.TIP.OCCS or via www.occrimestoppers.org.

Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before "graduating" to OC Weekly in 1995 as the paper's first calendar editor. He has contributed as a freelance editor and writer to several publications and been the subject of or featured in several reports online, in print and on the radio and television. One of countless times he returned to his Costa Mesa, CA, home with a bounty of awards from a journalism competition, his wife told him to take out the trash.